Pottery in India has evolved in the last 70 years since attaining independence from its functional aspects as a utilitarian household item into an aesthetic object and work of art, thereby making a place for itself in the contemporary art space of today.This has been an eventful journey. An important aspect of the nation-building agenda of independent India was theengagement of rural arts and crafts with the nationalist discourse. Pottery, weaving and textiles played an equally critical role alongside painting, sculpture and architecture in the development of a new Indian aesthetic as artists tried to revitalise India’s cultural heritage by using indigenous elements in their practice.

During the course of the 20th century, as artists started focusing on individuality, creativity and personal expression, ceramic and clay art developed its own aesthetic language and established itself as a distinct art form – transcending the humble status of its colonial past by incorporating new technologies and modern materials. As stated in the Piramal Museum exhibition brochure,

Mutable: Ceramic and Clay Art in India Since 1947 surveys this changing social, cultural, ecological and visual landscape and explores the enormous range of cultural practices that deal with aesthetics, function and sustainability. The pivotal point of the exhibition is the building of links or bridges between images of the vernacular and of modern art and design.

“Mutable” showcases the diverse range of pottery-making in India and displays the works of 80 artists from across the country including Gurcharan Singh who is acknowledged as the pioneer of Indian studio pottery, the versatile Devi Prasad who was a painter, potter and lifelong pacifist,and Ray Meeker and Deborah Smith, the founders of Puducherry’s Golden Bridge Pottery and leading educators in the field of contemporary ceramic art.

It also presents the works of leading artists withheterogeneous practices, who have used clay as one of the various media in their repertoire, such as K. G. Subramanyan, LaxmaGoud, Himmat Shah, N. N. Rimzon, Nek Chand Saini and MrinaliniMukherjee. In order to celebrate the efforts of hereditary potters, “Mutable” also introduces visitors to the practices of famous father-son duos such as Delhi-based Bhuvnesh and Giri Raj Prasad (both National Award winners), and Padma Shriawardee Brahmdeo Ramand AbhayPandit, trailblazing ceramists from Mumbai.

The exhibitionthrows a spotlight on ceramic and clay practices as they have emerged out of India’s art schools and also focuses on work done by institutions working with potters across the country such as Fabindia, Neerja International, Gwalior Pottery and Mitotic Commenting. On the vast diversity presented in the exhibition curators Annapurna Garimellaand SindhuraD.M. said:

“Clay and ceramic are vernacular, classic, modern and plural; they change and endure. ‘Mutable’celebrates seventy years of creative work with these materials, presenting an Indian history of ideas, art, design and technology.”

As the makers of utilitarian pottery in India have historically been artisanal potters, artists have always been involved in reviving traditional techniques while assimilating new technologies into their ceramic and clay practices. This is clearly evident in the heterogeneity of styles, textures, designs and purposes of the objects on display at “Mutable” which are organised into five sections – ‘Shift’, ‘Utility’, ‘Form’, ‘Object’ and ‘Perception’. Commenting on the broad range of practices ofthe featured potters, artists, ceramists and organisations that have been working with clay, exhibition curator SindhuraD.M. says:

“Respecting this diversity, the term ‘maker’ is privileged throughout the exhibition to describe and place potters, artists and ceramists in a broader field of ceramic and clay practice. Some makers produce more than one type of work which may include functional ware as well as sculpture. This has led us toinclude them in more than one section in the exhibition . . . The vast diversity of today’s work with clay, which is presented in this exhibition, is an indicator of the change that is happening within practices.”

It was artist Gurcharan Singh’s experience of Japanese studio pottery that enabled him to push the boundaries of form, technique and material and introduce stoneware, dull glazes and unusual shapes of tableware in his practice – evident in the exhibition “Kettle, Coffee Cup and Saucers”. In the 1970s, it was the pioneering efforts of artists such as Singh and others like Ray Meeker and Deborah Smith who started Golden Bridge Pottery in Puducherry that paved the way for the younger generation of potters to explore new techniques and develop their creativity. Artists such as VineetKacker’s work conflates art, design and craft. Exploiting the tactility of clay,he is able to incorporate layers of meaning into his work by expanding its capacity for creative expression. In Khojun…YaKhoJaun (Should I Look for You or Should I Lose Myself)(2016)Kacker merges the earthiness of clay with the modernity of digital technology to create a multimedia installation that urges you to question the spiritual connection between the medium and nature.

In the ‘Utility’ section of the exhibition due recognition has been given to commercial organisations such as Gwalior Pottery and Fabindiathat have championed the cause of developing utilitarian items while providing sustainable livelihoods to many generations of potters. This section also includes some unconventional products such as Daily Dump’s Khamba 3 T(2017), a terracottacomposter, and Mitticool’s terracotta Refrigerator (2017), which shows that out-of-the-box thinking has given new life to age-old craft techniques. ‘Form’ features the work of traditional potters like Brahmdeo Ram Panditwho received the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in the country, in 2013 and was adept at using different glazes – a skill he acquired by training in several institutions across the world and imbibing international best practices todevelop a studio pottery enterprise.

Gwalior Pottery, Small Milk Jugs. Image courtesy the collection of Anuradha Ravindranath, New Delhi and the Piramal Museum of Art, Mumbai.

Diversity in expression

In an attempt to highlight the role played by clay as a medium of creative expression that redefined the art of modern day India, ‘Object’ includes exhibits such as the works of artist and educator K. Subramanyan and his student K. LaxmaGoud. Subramanyan supported the Gandhian philosophy of promoting indigenous arts and crafts and urged his Santiniketanstudents to derive something new from the familiar, everyday objects. This is evident in LaxmaGoud’s untitled work which is on display in “Mutable” thathas the artist using his customary rustic vivacity and earthy style to layer paint on a humble clay plate.

In ‘Perception’, the visitor is urged to look beyond material, tradition and purpose,to acknowledge the importance of the design, the technique and the identity of the maker. Water pots from different parts of India that are on display here show how different artists and artisans explore aesthetics and functionality in a manner unique to their geographical location, cultural background and education.

It is this conflation of characteristics of the medium that gives it an aesthetic beauty and technological complexity that transforms even the functional and the utilitarian into a work of art. It is this creative diversity in clay and ceramic practices that “Mutable” seeks to celebrate.

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